


The Case of the Tudor Rose

by Grazi



Series: The Court, Detectives Extraordinaires [1]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: #poorkat, Alternate Universe, Detective AU, Gen, Tags will be added as we go, also murder, anne and kat are just babie, film noir aesthetic hell yeah, investigating!!, lina needs a break
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29608131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grazi/pseuds/Grazi
Summary: The Court. An organization of detectives who, all things considered, do a pretty good job. But when they (or Anne, rather), discover a string of murders, they soon find that their past might catch up to them sooner than they'd like.
Series: The Court, Detectives Extraordinaires [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175303
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So... to be fair it was only a matter of time till I wrote something like this.

In truth, Catalina de Aragón can't quite remember when she founded the Court. It seems that she's always been investigating. It seems that Parr, Seymour and Cleves have always been with her. It's sweet, really.

But right now, they're away, and Catalina finds herself all alone in her office, staring at an empty cup of coffee. She's grown to appreciate those quiet moments, but right now? She wishes she had company.

Then, a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door opens, and a young woman appears in the doorframe. She's wearing a green dress, and her hair is put up in two buns. More importantly, she practically radiates excitement.

"Um... hello...?" Catalina says cautiously. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, actually! I'm Anne. Anne Boleyn! And I saw an ad for your organization, so I came!"

"Oh. Do you have a case you'd like to submit to us?"

But Catalina has a feeling that it's just a little bit more than that.

Anne laughs.

"No, no! I want to join."

Catalina sinks into her chair, professionalism be damned. She's not sure how to respond. On one hand, the Court is supposed to be a private organization. On the other hand, well, they could do with another member, couldn't they? Jane always complains that she gets easily overwhelmed.

"You want to join, huh?"

"Exactly! First of all, I love investigating. Second of all..."

Anne stops for a moment, searching for words.

"...I just think you should let me in," she finally says. "I'd be a great asset, you know? I can do a lot of things!"

"Like what?" Catalina asks.  
Her curiosity's not exactly piqued, but she's interested to hear what the girl has to say. She shuffles through a pile of papers and pulls out a blank sheet before grabbing a pen in the pot. Time to take notes.

"Like... Like lockpicking! And eavesdropping, and well, I suppose if you need someone to seduce a suspect for info, well, I'm your go-to!"

Catalina can't help but smile. In the dimly-lit office, Anne's eyes seem to practically shine with excitement. Clearly, she has a lot of enthusiasm.

"I see... Well, I'd have to run this by my colleagues, but..."

"Oh! Oh, thank you!"

So Catalina runs it by the other four, when they're back, in the meeting room.

"I'm not sure," Parr says. "It's just... Can we trust her? A girl from God knows where shows up here and she wants to be let in? I don't know."

"I know what this is," Cleves smirks. "Lina, hon, it's your mother instincts kicking in! A bright eyed, bushy tailed gal arrives and suddenly you're all drawn to her! It's the mom instincts."

"She said she would be an asset!" Catalina protests.

But maybe Cleves is right. Catalina has always had "mom instincts." She finds herself feeling attached to younger people easily, quickly wanting to protect them.

Still, does she have to admit it? That's not very professional, and it's not the only reason. She does really think having a new member could be beneficial.

"But just because she said so, does that mean it's true?" Cleves counters.

"You're right," Catalina concedes, "but I really do think she could be useful! And you're always saying how overwhelmed you are."

Everyone nods.

"Okay, touché," Cleves says.

"We could always put her to the test," Parr suggests. "Let her in for a while, and see if she's trustworthy."

After a bit of thinking, Catalina agrees. After all, they don't know if Anne can really be trusted. For all they know, she could be a spy or something. 

"I just want to say that I'm very glad we're going to have a new member", Jane intervenes, smiling. "I can't wait to meet her! And that way we can even get a new perspective..."

"Yeah, I just hope she's not the backstabbing kind," Cleves shrugs, lighting up a cigarette.

In spite of herself, Catalina thinks the same. She's seen too much of those.

As it turns out, Anne isn't alone. She's also brought her cousin, Katherine Howard. After a few days, it becomes clear that those two aren't leaving anytime soon. Because while they're not 'compentent' in the sense that Cleves or Parr can be competent, it's clear that they have a lot of potential. Or at least, they're trying their best. Soon enough, Jane also finds herself all endeared, which doesn't surprise any of them.

But one day, Anne comes back with something that might just be different from their average investigating.

Nothing other than a murder.


	2. All The Roses In The Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some background is given, I guess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (dabs) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The meeting room's all bustling. To be fair, Anne expected that kind of reaction. She's talking about a murder, after all.

"Who's been murdered?" Cleves asks.  
"Have you guys ever heard of Miss Grey?"

There's a silence. A long, uncomfortable silence. No one really seems to know how to answer. It's weird, Anne thinks. She didn't expect a name could elicit such a reaction. Finally, Jane breaks the silence.

"Miss Grey... As in... Miss Jane Grey? The young heiress?... _Anne, is she the one who got murdered?_ "

"Yes!" she replies. "It's her."

Cleves and Catalina share a glance. They look very, very uneasy. Anne wonders why. She doesn't know them a whole lot, but for sure, they can't have a personal link with Miss Grey, can they? She pensively sips her lemonade, observing everyone. They all look troubled. Even Catalina, as hard as she tries to hide it. Anne prides herself on being a good judge of character, and she's guessed that the founder of the Court isn't too fond of showing vulnerability. An interesting contrast with Jane, who's very open with her emotions. From what she's seen, Anne has deduced that she's the one who provides a comforting presence. Parr, on the other hand... well, Boleyn has experienced Catherine Parr's sharp wit firsthand. She knows if anyone says something stupid, Parr will set them on the right track. Cleves...

Anne is interrupted in her observations by Cleves' sarcastic chuckle.

"Yeah, as if we're gonna investigate that! Use your brain, Lina."

(Oops. Anne's got lost in her thoughts, it seems. She didn't listen to everything)

"Why wouldn't we?" Catalina says. "We don't know if it has anything to do with... with him."

"Excuse me?" Howard intervenes. "Yeah. Could I just say something? I think we should investigate that! And who's the 'him' you're talking about, anyway? It's a murder case, we should get on it! And also... I've never investigated a murder before! Sounds exciting!"

"Exciting?" Parr almost spits. "It's not _exciting._ "

"Alright, not 'exciting'. But, I've never done that before!"

"Darling, _pray_ you never have to," Parr answers. "I'm not doing it. Too many risks. To many chances that it's connected to him."

"Didn't know you were a coward..." Howard murmurs.

"It's not about being a coward, Katherine!" Parr exclaims, visibly annoyed.

There's another silence. Anne wonders if meetings are always that awkward. But more importantly, she wonders who's the 'him' they keep talking about, and what he has to do with Miss Jane Grey. She was set to inherit the Tudor family's business -"business" is vague, because no one really know what the Tudors (or the Greys, for that matter) are up to. Or, well, Anne knows what at least one Tudor is up to. But she doesn't want to think about him.

Oh wait.

_Wait a tick._

Something suddenly clicks in Anne's mind. Could it be... Could the others be talking about Henry? (She suppresses a shudder.)

But no. It can't be. It would just be ridiculous. England can't be that small.

Now, Cleves and Parr are arguing. Anne doesn't really listen to them. Her mind is racing. Maybe one of them _is_ talking about Henry.

Henry's case is rather strange, really. He started out as the most promising heir to the Tudor business. And an attractive one, at that! No wonder Anne fell in love with him.

Alright, she knew he had been married before. Apparently, people really loved his wife. The Tudor Rose, they called her. Pretty, gentle, loyal.

From what she's heard, the 'Tudor Rose' has been a sort of title for all the wives Henry went through. A joke title, a mockery, almost. Anne never even heard the names of those other wives, only heard about how they were discarded, one after the other. Boleyn was the second one, apparently.

If the wives were Tudor Roses, then Henry had gathered a whole garden of them. And the _fucker_ had the audacity to tell Anne that he loved her, that she was oh-so precious to him. He even gifted her a ring, for God's sake! A very pretty ring. A gold one, with an emerald shaped like a rose in the center.

Anne had thrown it in the bin _months_ ago.


End file.
